“Yes, as I said—and as you know—he’s a good ally. But more than that, he is your brother and you both love each other dearly. Neither of you is enjoying being at odds. One of you must bridge this chasm.”
“I know.” Vi gave a small nod. “I handled things poorly and needed the past few days to clear my head… to decide what to say to him next. I don’t want to mess this up again. But I promise, I’ll approach him tonight.” She tried to give a reassuring smile, and was happy to see it was one Andru returned.
* * *
Rather than going right to her tent, Vi set to wandering after they broke rank for the day.
Dusk had overtaken the rock and sand of the desert. Behind her, in the far distance, she could still see the trees of the North, but they had shrunken, become shadowed, and now looked like little more than ominous black clouds on the edge of the horizon. Ahead of her, the sun still blazed, dying slowly in the western sky. Above, the stars were already beginning to kick off the covers of daytime and greet the world once more.
Vi grabbed the bracelet still tied around her wrist, worrying at the small bead of wood. How had she handled it when she and Ellene had scuffled? Surely they had. Sheknewthey had. But all Vi could think of now were fond memories of the girl.
The soldiers mostly avoided her and Jayme as they moved through camp, and Vi ignored them in reply. Jayme was just as quiet, giving Vi her mental space when she could not allow physical space as well. She had originally set out to find her brother’s tent, but a voice drifting over a gathering of soldiers quickly distracted her.
“When fighting a sorcerer, you need to keep an eye on their movements first—” Snippets of her mother’s voice were carried on the wind like a precious token. Vi headed in the direction, toward a group of soldiers on a dune half-ringing two people opposite each other below—one was her mother; the other wore the black armor of the Tower of Sorcerers.
Vi recognized one of the men on the upper portion of the ring and crossed to her uncle.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Jax looked a little startled to see her. “Your mother is helping some new recruits with pointers for fighting sorcerers. They’ve been asking for some time if she would, and it seems your mother is up to the task this evening.”
“Empresses do that?”
“Vhalla does. Well, these days she makes time whenever she’s able, at least.” Jax nodded, not taking his eyes off the woman in question as she continued instruction. “Connecting sorcerers and commons became her life’s work after she was Awoken.”
That was right—there was a time when Vi’s mother hadn’t been a sorcerer. Where she’d just been a common-born library apprentice working in the palace. Vi found herself forgetting in her mother’s presence, since the woman walked as though she had been born to wear the crown on her brow.
“Being involved with the soldiers, keeping yourself accessible…” Jayme picked up the thought. “Anything that makes sorcerers not seem frightening is a good thing. I hear the way the soldiers talk about sorcerers even now.”
Vi watched her mother move as she demonstrated her instructions to the soldiers. There was a decisive grace and a lack of hesitation that Vi had been working toward with Taavin for months now and she still didn’t possess.
“Such small movements,” she whispered.
“Indeed, but it wasn’t always so. You wouldn’t know it from watching her now, but she had the hardest time with not telegraphing her sorcery when she was your age.” There was a fond and familiar note to Jax’s voice.
“You’ve mentioned that. It’s a skill I seem to have inherited.”
“You have?” Jax looked to her in surprise. “When have you been practicing? I haven’t seen you with the Black Legion once on this trek.”
“I—”
Their conversation was thankfully cut short by Vhalla.
“Now, I think we should demonstrate two different affinities against each other.” The Empress’s voice echoed over the dunes. “Jax, would you care to step in the ring with me and show the soldiers how two different affinities can volley against each other?”
Suddenly all eyes were back on them.
Vi glanced between her mother and uncle, giving the former a small nod of both greeting and understanding. She didn’t know how much Sehra had told her mother about her powers, but Vhalla knew they were different from the rest and Vi was grateful she wasn’t—
“How about the crown princess?” a voice interjected before her uncle could respond.
The attention swung to the giant man who had made the shout. The soldiers around Fallor took a small step away, as if trying to avoid association with him. They were visibly nervous, eyes darting between Vhalla and Vi.
“I should not like to be seen as receiving favoritism,” Vi said with stiff formality.
“Hardly favoritism! I think we would all like to see what our crown princess and future Empress is capable of.” Fallor beamed up at her and Vi was forced to wonder if there wasn’t a sinister glint to his too-white teeth.
Vi wanted to show him exactly what she was capable of with a strongjuthlit right under his arse. But her rage quickly devolved into fear as the soldiers around Fallor began to murmur what sounded like agreement. Of course they would be curious to see the princess and Empress Regent spar.
